от Bulgarian Bible Society1И тъй, запитваме ние, нашият отец Авраам какво е придобил по плът?2Ако Авраам се оправда с дела, той има похвала, но не пред Бога. (Еф 2:8)3Защото, какво казва Писанието? „Повярва Авраам на Бога, и това му се вмени за оправдание“. (Бит 15:6; Гал 3:6; Як 2:23)4На оногова, който работи, заплатата се вменява не по милост, а по дълг. (Рим 11:6)5Напротив, ономува, който не работи, а вярва в Оногова, Който оправдава нечестивеца, вярата му се вменява за оправдание.6Тъй и Давид нарича блажен оня човек, комуто Бог вменява оправдание без дела по закона, като казва:7„блажени са ония, чиито беззакония са простени и чиито грехове са покрити; (Пс 31:1)8блажен е оня човек, комуто Господ няма да вмени грях“.9И тъй, това блаженство само за обрязани ли е, или и за необрязани? Понеже казваме, че на Авраама биде вменена вярата за оправдание.10Кога биде вменена: след обрязването ли, или преди обрязването? Не след обрязването, а преди обрязването.11И знака на обрязването той получи като печат на оправданието чрез вярата, която имаше преди обрязването си, за да бъде отец на всички необрязани вярващи, та и тям да се вмени оправданието, (Бит 17:11)12и отец на обрязаните, ала не на ония, които само обрязване са приели, но които и вървят по стъпките на вярата на отца ни Авраама, що имаше той преди обрязването си.13Защото обещанието към Авраама или към семето му – да бъде наследник на света, се даде не чрез закона, а чрез оправдаване посредством вярата. (Бит 15:6; Бит 17:5)14Ако привържениците на закона са наследници, вярата е обезсилена, и обещанието унищожено;15защото законът поражда гняв; дето пък няма закон, няма и престъпление. (Рим 3:20; Рим 5:13; Рим 7:8; 1 Кор 15:56; Гал 3:10)16Затова оправданието е от вяра, за да бъде по милост, та и обещанието да бъде заздравено за всички не само по закон, но и по вяра потомци на Авраама, който е отец на всички ни,17според както е писано: „поставих те баща на много народи“, пред Бога, Комуто той повярва, Който животвори мъртвите и зове несъществуващото като съществуващо. (Бит 17:5; Евр 11:12; Сир 44:19)18Авраам, без никакво основание за надежда, повярва с надежда, че ще стане баща на много народи, според казаното: „тъй многобройно ще бъде семето ти“. (Бит 15:5)19И без да отслабне във вярата, той не помисли, че тялото му е вече умъртвяло (понеже беше току-речи стогодишен) и утробата Саррина е в омъртвение;20а в обещанието Божие се не усъмни чрез неверие, но остана твърд във вярата, като въздаде Богу слава,21напълно уверен, че Той е силен и да изпълни това, що е обещал. (Пс 113:9; Лк 1:37)22Затова му се вмени за праведност.23Но не само за него е писано, че му се е вменило, (Рим 15:4)24но и за нас: ще се вмени и нам, вярващите в Оногова, Който възкреси от мъртвите Иисуса Христа, Господа нашего,25предадения за нашите грехове и възкръсналия за наше оправдаване. (Ис 53:5; Рим 5:6; 1 Кор 15:22; 1 Пет 1:21)
1What should we say about these things? What did Abraham, the father of our people, discover about being right with God?2Did he become right with God because of something he did? If so, he could boast about it. But he couldn’t boast to God.3What do we find in Scripture? It says, ‘Abraham believed God. God accepted Abraham’s faith, and so his faith made him right with God.’ (Бит 15:6)4When a person works, their pay is not considered a gift. It is owed to them.5But things are different with God. He makes ungodly people right with himself. If people trust in him, their faith is accepted even though they do not work. Their faith makes them right with God.6King David says the same thing. He tells us how blessed people are when God makes them right with himself. They are blessed because they don’t have to do anything in return. David says,7‘Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven. Blessed are those whose sins are taken away.8Blessed is the person whose sin the Lord never counts against them.’ (Пс 32:1; Пс 32:2)9Is that blessing only for those who are circumcised? Or is it also for those who are not circumcised? We have been saying that God accepted Abraham’s faith. So his faith made him right with God.10When did it happen? Was it after Abraham was circumcised, or before? It was before he was circumcised, not after!11He was circumcised as a sign of the covenant God had made with him. It showed that his faith had made him right with God before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the father of all believers who have not been circumcised. God accepts their faith. So their faith makes them right with him.12And Abraham is also the father of those who are circumcised and believe. So just being circumcised is not enough. Those who are circumcised must also follow the steps of our father Abraham. He had faith before he was circumcised.13Abraham and his family received a promise. God promised that Abraham would receive the world. It would not come to him because he obeyed the law. It would come because of his faith, which made him right with God.14Do those who depend on the law receive the promise? If they do, faith would mean nothing. God’s promise would be worthless.15The law brings God’s anger. Where there is no law, the law can’t be broken.16The promise is based on God’s grace. The promise comes by faith. All of Abraham’s children will certainly receive the promise. And it is not only for those who are ruled by the law. Those who have the same faith that Abraham had are also included. He is the father of us all.17It is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ God considers Abraham to be our father. The God that Abraham believed in gives life to the dead. Abraham’s God also creates things that did not exist before. (Бит 17:5)18When there was no reason for hope, Abraham believed because he had hope. He became the father of many nations, exactly as God had promised. God said, ‘That is how many children you will have.’ (Бит 15:5)19Abraham did not become weak in his faith. He accepted the fact that he was past the time when he could have children. At that time Abraham was about 100 years old. He also realised that Sarah was too old to have children.20But Abraham kept believing in God’s promise. He became strong in his faith. He gave glory to God.21He was absolutely sure that God had the power to do what he had promised.22That’s why ‘God accepted Abraham because he believed. So his faith made him right with God.’ (Бит 15:6)23The words ‘God accepted Abraham’s faith’ were written not only for Abraham.24They were written also for us. We believe in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. So God will accept our faith and make us right with himself.25Jesus was handed over to die for our sins. He was raised to life in order to make us right with God.